Rutherford sheriff’s department looking for leads in 1977 cold case

“The only thing we’re focused on is who killed Stanley. We want to get answers for the family. They need answers, they need to know what happened. He doesn’t deserve to be thrown away like a piece of trash.” — DETECTIVE STEVE KOHLER

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department and the TBI are asking for the public’s help in a new investigation of a 40-year-old cold case.

The body of Stanley Smith was found March 25, 1977 in an abandoned house on the Stones River Battlefield. The 26-yearold factory worker was a father of two.

“The only thing we’re focused on is who killed Stanley. We want to get answers for the family,” Detective Steve Kohler said. “He has two sons and his mother’s still alive. They need answers, they need to know what happened. He doesn’t deserve to be thrown away like a piece of trash.”

According to Kohler, the file on Smith’s death is actually one of the best in the cold case department to use even this many years later.

“Back in the ’70s, there were a lot of jurisdictions that would work together, for instance the city and the county and the TBI, so there are a lot of

different detectives from a lot of agencies that worked on this and they did an outstanding job,” Kohler said.

Smith’s body was found by a passer-by, Kohler said, a visitor to the area who assumed the house was on park land and so called the National Park Service to report the finding. Although it was eventually determined the residence did not sit on federal property, the FBI originally caught the case and began investigating.

“One son is living here in Murfreesboro and this has really bothered him for a long time. It’s a very emotional thing for him and he feels like he was robbed of the chance of having a father,” Kohler said.

Investigators hope the span of 40 years will have loosened some loyalties or fears and allow anyone who heard or saw something to come forward.

“We’re just kind of asking for help from the community and hopefully somebody will have answers that will help us,” Kohler said. “I just want to stress that they can be anonymous, nobody’s going to get in trouble.”

They are looking for even rumors or things people may think is hearsay, to give them new ideas on where to look. The team has sent materials to be analyzed with technology not yet developed in 1977.

“I can’t imagine a mother still not knowing after all this time why her son was killed,” Kohler said.